Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, March 7, 2006

San Francisco police said they are looking for both the victim and up to four suspects in a Sunday morning assault on a homeless man in front of Chinatown flower shop.

Video surveillance recorded by the owner of the Canton Flower Shop at 118 Waverly Place shows three men beating the victim, an elderly man whom the flower shop owner, Ed Jews, described as "very clean and orderly" and "very respectful" of the neighborhood where he was camping overnight.

The video shows the third man getting out of the passenger side of a gray or silver car, possibly a Honda Civic, that has a missing hubcap on the front passenger wheel, according to police.

Sgt. Neville Gittens said police believe a fourth man may have been driving the car.

After the beating, the assailants and the victim left the area.

The victim left his belongings behind when he left the area. Jew said he had put some of the man's belongings in a box in case he came back for them.

But police said that while they have identified the victim, he has not come forward.

All three suspects are described as Asian men in their early to late 20s, the first of them wearing a black tank top, a hip-length jacket and white shoes.

The second man was wearing a long-sleeved, white hip-length shirt, faded blue jeans and black shoes, and the third wore a hip-length dark jacket with a light-colored shirt, white pants and white shoes, according to police.

Anyone with information about the beating is urged to contact the general work section at (415) 553-1141 or the confidential tip line at (415) 575-4444.